The assessment of the pretreatment effect on the anaerobic digestion process is generally based on the results of batch tests, which may fail in truly predicting full-scale anaerobic reactors performance. Therefore, in this study, the effect of alkaline pretreatment on the anaerobic digestion of ensiled sorghum forage was evaluated by comparing the results of two semi-continuous CSTR (Continuously Stirred Tank Reactor) anaerobic reactors. Results showed that an alkaline pretreatment step, prior to the anaerobic digestion of ensiled sorghum forage, can have a beneficial effect both in enhancing methane production (an increase of 25% on methane production was observed, if compared to that of untreated sorghum) and in giving more stability to the anaerobic digestion process. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.